BNP standing committee member Mosharraf, arrested in March by joint forces, is accused in six cases while former Air Force chief Altaf Hossain, arrested on May 28 last year, is accused in two cases.

Over 200 BNP leaders and activists including BNP Vice-president and former minister MK Anwar and former MP Monirul Huq Chowdhury received them as they emerged from the prison cells at Block-C of BSMMU.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court had rejected an appeal of the Anti-Corruption Commission to overturn a High Court order granting bail to the former ministers and staying the proceedings against them in the Barapukuria coalmine case.

A special court on Monday ordered BNP leader M Saifur Rahman, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami and its Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid to jail after they surrendered before the court in the same case.

Another accused in the case, former state minister for energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain was sent to jail Sunday after he surrendered before the special court.

The ACC submitted the charge sheet against 16 people, including former prime minister Khaleda Zia, on October 5 this year.

The commission filed the case on Feb 26, accusing the then government leaders of incurring loss of nearly Tk 158 crore to the state through irregularities in awarding the coalmine project.